Now that I have decided that my class set may not be necessary (I am really good at modeling sharing to my students!), I decided to research some good magazines for my classroom.

All of these have been kid-tested and kid-approved by my own two kids! Some of them we have subscriptions to already and some we looked at at our local library.

What are some of the magazines I have found? (click on the picture to go directly to a website for ordering or for more information)

Dig Into History

Articles about History and archeology.

Sports Illustrated for Kids

A great character education magazine that hooks even the most reluctant reader through sports!

Highlights

With science projects, jokes and just plain good short stories this magazine is always a hit with kids.

National Geographic Kids

Just like the adult version but with articles and pictures that matter to kids! A high quality magazine.

Lego Club Magazine

A kid favorite, this magazine really pulls in a lot of reluctant readers (boys and girls).

These are just a handful of the great choices for kid magazines. Here are some other great magazines I've found:

Ranger RickAmerican GirlDiscovery GirlsBoys LifeGirls LifeZoobooks

These are just a few of the magazines that could be used in the classroom for fun reading. Choosing will be really hard. I think there is nothing wrong with using Time for Kids and Scholastic News and all of the other great, amazing, magazines that are usually used whole-group. But, some of these magazines would just make independent reading so much fun, and they might pull in some of my reluctant readers!

I stopped by Tim's room the other day and it was delivery day. All of the classrooms were getting their Scholastic News shipments. You probably know what that looks like, bundles upon bundles of magazines that are all the same.

I'm sure you can imagine that it got me thinking. My sister-in-law, who is also in teaching, had just placed a great article about reading on her Facebook page. It was all about allowing choice in reading back into the classroom in order to get the love of reading back. If you are interested in the article click on the picture or here to go directly to the article.

So I, admittedly, had reading on the brain and then I saw the stacks of classroom magazines. We get a number of class sets of these types of magazines. Each set, roughly, costs a little over $150! What if we shared some of these class sets (one per grade level, not classroom) and used the extra money to buy single subscriptions to magazines that the students might really enjoy and want to read?

If we shared the classroom sets of magazines with another class we would each have $75 to spend on classroom magazines that I think students, especially my reluctant readers, would really like to read!

Now, I am off to look into some interesting magazines that I think will be enjoyed by all types of readers! Looks like there will be a part 2 to this post! :)

Ssshhhhh. I have to share a deep, dark secret with you. I hate school parties. If you can believe it I hated them even as a kid.

My hat goes off to the teachers that can do that, but I have a sneaking suspicion that there are very few of them. Yeah, some teachers try and be the cool teacher and have the ultimate "lets be crazy" party, but we all know they were about to throw up right before starting it!

A few years ago, while a bunch of us were joking about calling in sick the day before a party (to be honest I worked with two teachers that were absent for EVERY party day - yeah, we all noticed) I had the best idea. Why not do centers instead of a party? Then, the kids get many activities instead of just one hyper, sugar filled event. I might even be able to fit in some fun learning (sshhh, please don't share that with the kids!).

At the school I was at a few years ago, it was encouraged to have a party once a month. They were 30 minutes, sugar infested, lets get hyper and turn on music and do as many activities as we can in those 30 minutes marathons. And we did them once a month- can you believe it? Granted, kids were asked to save any birthday celebrations to that once a month event- but really, I hated that afternoon. I know it was only 30 minutes, but it was the worst 30 minutes of the year. The holiday parties were even worse- those were 60 minutes and that ment twice the expectations of fun! After Christmas I knew I couldn't do Valentine's Day; it just was not going to happen.

So, Holiday Centers were created! The students were already used to centers in our room since we did Daily 5 Math and Reading. So, doing stations during this time was very routine! How did we do them? Keep reading to find out!

First, I thought about how many stations I would need. I usually have 30 to 32 students, so I went with 6 stations!

Then, I thought about the mix I wanted at each station. How long did we want to spend at each one, did all of the kids see every station, could they do them themselves and how could I involve all of the family members that always want to volunteer?

I decided that a mix of games, alone activities and crafts would be beneficial for all of the kids. Then, there is some hang-out time, some alone time, and some crafty time to use the imagination!

So, to dive into the details, we have six stations and the students spend about 10 to 15 minutes at each station. That does make our party last a little bit longer, but the kids don't complain and I actually don't mind it going longer since we have a focus. At each station the students have a direction sheet and the materials. I usually place them in a plastic tub the night before (or have a parent volunteer help me). Because the stations are pretty self-directed I'm able to get the stations out right at the "party" time and place it on a table.

If I have parents or family members there to help with the "party" they are also able to be assigned to a specific station and that helps with their focus too! But, the beauty of these stations is that I don't need to have a parent volunteer to have the stations work- they just run more smoothly if there is someone in charge of it! I have found that parents LOVE volunteering for this type of party because they know what is expected of them and they aren't just sitting around helping whenever they see a need; they are running a station- they have a purpose!

After stations is when we pass out valentine cards, or eat the treats that are brought in. By that time, the students are usually wanting to sit and eat quietly and it only lasts for 10 to 15 minutes! Sometimes we put on (calm) music or we find a short video to watch while this is happening. It's a great way to wrap up the "party" and myself and helpers (parents or some key students) have time to clean up the stations!

If you are interested in having stations for your next party but don't have the time to make them yourself, check out my Valentine's Day Party Stations. It has 6 stations ready to print and use (with a little material gathering like construction paper, and glue to name a few). It's for sale at my Teachers Pay Teachers store, but you can go directly there by clicking here or on the picture below! Happy "partying"!

Like everyone else as 2014 comes to a close and we ring in 2015 (eekkk, did you realize that we are going to be in the year that Marty McFly went to in the Back to the Future Movies? Where are our hoverboards?) I've been thinking about my New Years Resolutions. I always try to make a few because I think that being an agent of change or being adaptable is what keeps people fresh and on top of their game. That doesn't mean that I think we need to jump on every bandwagon but, I do think that learning is essential to everyone's well being. Tim and I truly do both believe that we not only teach our subjects but that we teach life-long learning.

Well, last year Tim did something neat with his New Year's Resolution and at the time I didn't think much about it, But, now, looking back, I realize that he has totally embraced the concept of Smart Goals and how they influence his teaching and life in general.

So, I have the okay from Tim to mention his goal from last year. It was to lose 20 pounds within the next year (by 2015). Tim's goal for 2014 was perfect because it fit all of the Smart Goal Setting Criteria. It was specific (lose weight), was measurable (20 pounds), was attainable (20 pounds was a reasonable amount for him to lose in the time frame he gave himself... an entire year), it was relevant (who in their middle 30's doesn't want to lose a few pounds?) and was time-bound (the year...all though he made it before then... YEAH Tim!! ).

This year, I'm NOT setting New Year's resolutions. But, I am setting goals for next year!

Here are my goals for this year (personal goals; I already set professional ones at the beginning of the school year).

1. Run a 10K this summer (I wish I had an exact date, but that involves finding a race and finding child care!).

2. Blog EVERY weekend. This one will be hard. Blogging is a lot like running for me. Sometimes it is SO easy... and other times I feel like pulling out my hair while doing it......

3. Spend 10, quality, minutes with each of my children, every single night.